1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an erosion prevention device for preventing erosion of land due to water currents, in particular for preventing the erosion of sandy beaches on large bodies of water.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Beach erosion has been a particularly grave problem along tourist beaches and other densely populated stretches of coastal areas, where the water slowly eats away at the land and threatens buildings, roads or other man-made structures.
Several possible ways exist to battle coastal erosion, including the construction of seawalls, the buildup of artificial breaker reefs or other means for decreasing the force of underwater currents.
While seawalls cannot be used to battle the erosion of sandy beaches, the option to create artificial reefs is very often too costly and it poses a threat to the shipping industry.
A less costly and even rather inexpensive option is to provide devices to reinforce the surface which is in danger of being eroded. Several such devices have been suggested, for instance those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,629,360 to Cacossa et al, 3,096,621 to Danel, 4,436,447 to Crowe, and 4,139,319 to Anderson.
Those U.S. patents relate to concrete blocks, strings of concrete discs, the interlocking of concrete blocks, or the combination of used tires and concrete to form concrete blocks.
Since concrete structures which are not provided for underwater use would be rather disturbing on beaches used for recreational purposes, they can only be utilized in less densely populated coastal areas.